This disclosure relates generally to electronic messaging, and more particularly to integrating calling functionality with an electronic messaging system.
Use of text-based dedicated messaging applications for commercial transactions is becoming more commonplace. Dedicated messaging applications provide a rich feature set that may not be available using conventional email or other messaging technologies. Both the sender and receiver of the messages can be authenticated and delivery of the messages can be verified. In addition, the messages can include certain formatting and/or content features that are not supported by other messaging technologies. For these reasons, consumers use such applications as a convenient way to contact businesses. Businesses, in turn, use such applications to communicate directly with their customers and potential customers.
However, situations may arise in which text-based messaging may be inadequate or undesirable. In these situations a customer may need to speak to a live person representing the business. For example, a customer may need to speak to a live representative to resolve customer support or billing issues.
Businesses typically provide telephone numbers using which a customer can speak to a live representative, such as toll-free numbers. Establishing and maintaining these numbers can be burdensome and expensive. In addition, businesses need to develop and support interactive voice response (IVR) systems to receive placed calls and route the calls to the business representatives. IVR systems may have complex and confusing menu options which route calls to the wrong representatives and frustrate customers. Moreover, such IVR systems do not leverage the features and capabilities of dedicated messaging applications to enrich the customer support experience.